18 – Receivables and miscellaneous assets

Other receivables and miscellaneous assets (million €)

 

 

December 31, 2016

December 31, 2015

 

 

Noncurrent

Current

Noncurrent

Current

Loans and interest receivables

 

568

250

811

194

Derivatives with positive fair values

 

176

342

384

474

Receivables from finance leases

 

29

5

33

8

Insurance compensation receivables

 

6

14

16

Miscellaneous

 

126

406

130

357

Other receivables and assets which qualify as financial instruments

 

905

1,017

1,358

1,049

Prepaid expenses

 

62

258

61

176

Defined benefit assets

 

66

133

Tax refund claims

 

114

747

102

875

Employee receivables

 

10

21

Precious metal trading items

 

690

663

Miscellaneous

 

63

356

66

311

Other receivables and assets which do not qualify as financial instruments

 

305

2,061

362

2,046

Other receivables and miscellaneous assets

 

1,210

3,078

1,720

3,095

The decline in noncurrent loans and interest receivables in 2016 was predominantly due to the reduction of loans granted by WIGA Transport Beteiligungs-GmbH & Co. KG, Kassel, Germany, to NEL Gastransport GmbH, Kassel, Germany, and GASCADE Gastransport GmbH, Kassel, Germany, by €139 million to €259 million to finance the pipeline network. Furthermore, loans granted by BASF Belgium Coordination Center Comm. V., Antwerp, Belgium, mainly to finance the business expansion of Asian companies, were reduced by €72 million to €144 million in 2016. As in the previous year, this item also included receivables in favor of BASF SE from the BASF Pensionskasse arising from an agreement regarding the granting of profit participation capital in the amount of €80 million.

The reduction of noncurrent derivatives positive fair market values primarily affected the market valuation of combined interest rate and currency swaps. The change in current derivatives with positive fair market values was largely attributable to the lower fair values of precious metal and foreign currency derivatives.

Prepaid expenses in 2016 included prepayments of €64 million related to operating activities compared with €41 million in 2015, as well as €54 million in prepayments for insurance in 2016 compared with €30 million in 2015. Prepayments for license costs increased from €36 million to €48 million in 2016.

The reduction in current tax refund claims can largely be traced back to the settlement of open tax income receivables.

Precious metal trading items primarily comprise physical items and precious metal accounts as well as long positions in precious metals, which are largely hedged through sales or derivatives.

Valuation allowances for receivables 2016 (million €)

 

 

Balance as of January 1, 2016

Additions recognized in income

Reversals recognized in income

Additions not recognized in income

Reversals not recognized in income

Balance as of December 31, 2016

Accounts receivable, trade

 

298

106

35

40

39

370

Other receivables

 

75

27

1

24

7

118

Total

 

373

133

36

64

46

488

Valuation allowances for receivables 2015 (million €)

 

 

Balance as of January 1, 2015

Additions recognized in income

Reversals recognized in income

Additions not recognized in income

Reversals not recognized in income

Balance as of December 31, 2015

Accounts receivable, trade

 

337

80

41

33

111

298

Other receivables

 

108

18

19

70

75

Total

 

445

98

41

52

181

373

Changes recognized in income contained individual valuation allowances, group-wise individual valuation allowances and valuation allowances due to transfer risks.

Changes not recognized in income were primarily related to changes in the scope of consolidation, translation adjustments and derecognition of uncollectible receivables.

Even in the current economic environment, BASF has not observed any material changes in the credit quality of its receivables. In 2016, individual valuation allowances of €71 million were recognized for accounts receivable, trade, and valuation allowances of €22 million were reversed. In 2015, individual valuation allowances of €57 million were recognized for trade accounts receivable and valuation allowances of €17 million were reversed.

At BASF, a comprehensive, global credit insurance program covers trade accounts receivable incurred since January 1, 2015. As part of a global excess of loss policy, an essential part of future bad debts of the BASF Group are insured. No compensation claims were incurred in either 2016 or 2015.

In 2016, individual valuation allowances of €27 million were recognized for other receivables and €1 million reversed. In 2015, individual valuation allowances of €18 million were recognized for other receivables.

Aging analysis of accounts receivable, trade (million €)

 

 

December 31, 2016

December 31, 2015

 

 

Gross value

Valuation allowances

Gross value

Valuation allowances

Not yet due

 

10,295

26

8,822

22

Past due less than 30 days

 

381

2

435

3

Past due between 30 and 89 days

 

159

8

135

8

Past due more than 90 days

 

487

334

422

265

Total

 

11,322

370

9,814

298

As of December 31, 2016, there were no material other receivables classified as financial instruments that were overdue and for which no valuation allowance was made.